Tuesday, September 4, 2012

During this video for quick and easy cheese pierogi, I joke
about my Polish grandmother rolling over in her grave, but after eating several
batches of these delicious dumplings, I’m pretty sure Grandma Sophie would have
approved.

I’ve always been a big fan of wonton skins. Not only have I
used them for wonton soup, but also for tortellini, ravioli, and various other
dumplings. They’re very
user-friendly, but use a damp paper towel to cover the open package as you
work, since they can dry out quickly and become harder to work with.

Whenever I post a video like this, the most common questions
usually revolve around what alternative fillings would work. Let me handle that
issue right now. Anything will work as a filling. Literally. Most high-end
grocery stores will have farmer’s cheese, but if you can’t find it, a mixture
of half cream cheese and half ricotta would get you very close.

I decided to break with family tradition and serve these with
bacon and caramelized onions, as we usually just fry in a little butter and
serve with sour cream. I blame Chicago’s Pierogi Heaven for this, since it was
during a recent visit that I had a plate served similarly, and it was
amazing.

Anyway, whether you’re an old pro, or brand new to the joys
of pierogi, I hope you give these easy, cheesy dumplings a try. Remember the
old saying...if you’re not cheating, you’re not trying. Enjoy!

My bf's mother is from Poland and she actually makes pierogi quite often, because since I've tried them first I have become obsessed with them, and now all I want to eat when we're visiting is pierogi filled with a beef mixture and caramelized onion on top...

Chef, you are awesome! PS I'm from Russia, and there this dish called "vareniki". But if you call this vareniki, you must have some vodka on the table =)I will be very happy if you're make video about russian dishes! Like a borsh' or holodez... =)I can help =)

OK, no offense towards your recipe, but here's what happened when I tried to make this:

I made a test pierogi, boiled it, fried it and thought it was OK. Then I dumped all the carmelized bacon/onions into the potato/cheese mixture, added the chives and put in some heavy cream and butter and just had some great mashed potatoes.

Made some of these this evening with square wonton skins. They were great and straightforward. The technique I used was to egg wash four wantons, fill them, fold them, finish them, and repeat. I used the whole stack of wontons and have some filling leftover for tomorrow. I froze half the dumplings for my little sister who's in grad school.

Chef, those look pretty good and I will try them. My Ukrainian Grandmother used to make them from scratch every month at her church, for fund raising. She made them occasionally for her family. (*sigh*) I've made them from her recipe once and it was a lot of work. I made some mistakes in technique. If you ever get around to making these from scratch on one of your videos, I would be very thankful!

We do this mainly during the summer when it's hot out and you don't want to do all the work to make the dough but still want pierogi. Using this cheat for several years now. But come around xmas, I go over to my mom's place and help her make about 12doz or so of the real deal pierogi.She uses a mixer to help with the dough if making it herself, I make it by hand when I come over. so much better.